The-Lonely-Hunter-Dies-Alone
by hscrooney
Summary: Two hunters in The Hunters of Artemis bond over their shared loneliness, and over time, begin to devolop a relationship. One-Shot, COMPLETE.


THWACK*

The arrow implants itself in the tree above my head. I'm fucked. I know I'm fucked. I reach into the satchel and pull out a ball of Greek Fire, it's energy illuminating the forest surrounding me. I throw it behind me and run faster. Tears are streaming down my face, as I think of how my life has ended just as it was about to begin. I see Amelia in front of me, though, and I start to calm down. As long as we're together, I remember. As long as we're together it's okay. I catch up to her, and we run into the night, surrendering ourselves to the mercy of nature.

**SIX MONTHS EARLIER**

I love being a hunter. Really, I do. Nothing gives you that feeling of adrenaline quite like being right on the trail of dangerous prey, your blood pounding in your eardrums, your body on edge constantly until it appears, somehow still startling you, and you can slay it. Nothing quite beats the triumph after finishing a battle that took a lot out of you. Nothing can quite beat the way you feel- one with nature- one with yourself. Nothing can also quite beat the loneliness. Sure, as a hunter, there are many other hunters that you can be friends with, but there's no place for romantic love. It's funny, isn't it? I was 13 when I joined the hunters. Right on the cusp of puberty. I didn't need romantic love. Swearing off all romance- didn't seem like a huge burden for immortality. For beautiful hunting. But it's been a couple of years, and that childish innocence and immaturity has quickly transformed into an all-consuming lust. Not expressly for sexual relations, but for relationships at all. For somebody to turn to in times of need, for somebody to hold your hand, and for somebody to kiss under the unfettered stars of the wild. I missed it. I craved it- the denial drove me mad. But I couldn't have it.

I don't think I knew I was gay before I joined the hunters. I wouldn't swoon over the guys like my other friends, but I'd figured that it would come later. I was just a late bloomer, that was all. My attraction to guys would come when I started to grow. Well, I grew and grew and those feelings never came. No feelings of romance for spesific people ever came. That was, until I met Amelia. She was pretty, but not in a way that made anybody faint or anything. She had ruddy brown- almost red hair, down to her shoulders, and freckles all over her face. All over her body, in fact, as you could see her arms and legs were decorated with the same pattern.

When I first saw Amelia, I knew instantly what was happening. I was lucky enough to have that foresight. Suddenly, 16 years of not understanding had come to an end. I was... I was attracted to women. Being here with these extremely attractive girls in warrior outfits where I'm not allowed to fall in love? It was a death sentence. I'd realized why so many hunters avoided men so vigorously. It was too dangerous. But I couldn't resist.

Amelia was right there, sitting alone, off to the side of the fire. Nobody would care if I talked to her, would they? We could be friends. That was a thing people had. We could be friends, and I'd try to ignore my attraction to her, and I'd shove those feelings down deep inside, and I'd try not to kiss her when we were looking at each other and—- "Hello?", asked Amelia. "You've been staring at me for the last five minutes... are you okay?" I snapped back to reality instantaneously. "Oh!" I said, almost too loud. "Uh.. i just wanted to say hi!". "Okay", said Amelia, a little shyly, but evidently open to the idea. "Amelia", she said. "I'm Cara", I told her, offering my hand for a handshake. We touched hands, and for a brief moment, not even an instant, we were holding hands. I looked into her eyes and saw the same feeling of loneliness and longing that I did. We could be real! We could- we could-

And in a moment the instant was gone. The handshake was resumed. We were both flustered, heat rushing to our cheeks. We laughed in the same way. Both trying to play off the instant like it never happened, and both desperately hinting we'd want to do it again.

We started to talk. I told her about my life growing up in a suburbain paradise, until I found out I was adopted and the woman I thought was my mom started to hate me. She told me about her life on a farm in Ohio, until a monster had destroyed the farmhouse with her dad inside. Over the next few months, we started to enjoy one another's company more and more- we began hunting together, spending every meal together, staying up late into the night at the campfire talking together. Each of us knew what the other wanted, and each time we met we were each taking bigger and bigger swings at it. Three months in we started to hold hands in private. A month later we had our first hug. But it was a night in a sunflower field about a month and a half ago that was the most significant.

She sat cross-legged in front of me, wearing a dress she had brought from her previous life. She'd smuggled it in as a token of her love for her father, as he'd given it to her for her birthday a year before he died. The dress was free flowing, and the light of the moon that passed through her brown hair, making it shimmer, made it seem like she was almost a nymph. She was laughing at something I'd just said, when her bright green eyes locked onto mine, and all of a sudden she looked dead serious. Passion began to fill her features- passion for companionship that friendship cannot begin to describe. She looked into my soul- and she could not refuse. We came together in harmony, her and I, our lips combining into a single thing, our youngest switching places as we held one another in the way that you do after being starved of love for so long- hungrily, eagerly devouring and feeling each part of the other. And then, before we had gone far enough that we would be the tiniest bit sated, she stopped me.

"Cara- I love you.", she told me, the look in her eyes of a pleading and conflicted woman. "I want you to know that. But we have to stop this- we've already broken our vows, and if Artemis finds out...". "Amelia, please-" my voice cracked as I pleaded to her. "I'd give up the Hunt, I'd give up gods-forsaken immortality, I'd give up everything that makes me me. Just for one night with you. Just for one night to hold you and never let you go". Amelia sighed. She raised her head up to me, worried. Her face spelled conflict but her eyes had conceded before she said, with a voice timid but oh so sure, "Me too".

For the next month and a half, we plotted. We planned. We figured out how to live on the land- Amelia had been a farmer. We got supplies, stealing from our barracks. We even had a time. But it didn't quite work out like that.

**PRESENT DAY**

"I'm sorry for tripping the alarms!" I shouted to Amelia. "As if I could ever be angry at you" she retorted. "Just be glad I'd packed our go bags so throughly." Even while escaping the hunters of Artemis we found time for each other. And then all of a sudden- the arrows stopped. "They must've given up!" Squealed Amelia. I looked back, and sure enough, the hunters seemed to be gone. Amelia threw herself on me. We kissed, and it was the kiss of victory- of love- of triumph over an opponent- of happiness that we could be together- and of the absence of loneliness, and the gain of somebody to hold.

Later that night, we'd gotten a fire going. We'd found a rabbit and cooked it. Amelia was worried that fire would attract the hunters but I knew the truth. The hunters of Artemis would never give up. I'd known what had happened. Artemis had let us go. I muttered a quiet thanks. Perhaps she wasn't as strict as she let on.

After dinner we later out the tarp we'd brought as a makeshift bed. We laid down together, and that night I kissed every freckle on her body.

**AN: Hi, this is me, hscrooney. I'm glad you're reading and hoped you liked it. This is a one-shot, so there is nothing else planned for these characters, but if the response is positive (or if I'm bored) I may make another one shot set in the PJO universe. Please review and tell me what you think. Bye for now, **

**HS.**


End file.
